Eagles' ‘D' has D-1 talent(Informative Tatum Report)

[Phantom Stang]

Eagles' ‘D' has D-1 talent
By RON HOWELL/Reporter Sports Editor

No team that is still alive in the high school playoffs has made it without playing outstanding defense. And Sweetwater's opponent in the Class 3A, Division II semifinals has several defensive players who are getting noticed by colleges at the Division I level.

In fact, Tatum (14-0) - which boasted a No. 4 state ranking at the end of the regular season - can also boast of having five D-1 prospects on the defensive side of the ball. One of them is de-fensive back Teo Freeney, who had three of the Eagles' four interceptions in last week's 45-21 win over Canton. Freeney has also been used at wide receiver.

Another is linebacker Daylon McCoy, who got the Eagles' other interception and ran it back for Tatum's final touchdown which dashed Canton's hopes for a late comeback. Another is safety Car-son Blackmon, who gave an oral commitment to Houston last summer and is the only one of the five prospects to commit.

Freeney has been timed at 4.4 in the 40, while Blackmon has 4.5 speed and McCoy - who also returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown in Tatum's 28-19 win over Dallas Madison two weeks ago - has a best time of 4.62.

The largest of the five is 6-4, 315-pound tackle Isaiah Thompson, who is ranked the highest of the prospects according to a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. The other D-1 prospect is 6-5, 210-pound end Clarence Leatch, who was the district's newcomer of the year in 2004 and has 4.65 speed. Leatch, who also plays tight end, has 10 sacks this season.

Tatum allowed only 10.6 points per game dur-ing the regular season, and the Eagles have done almost as well in the playoffs as their four victimes have averaged just under 15 points. In ad-dition to their four interceptions against Canton, Tatum forced a fumble and sacked quarterback G.J. Kinne four times.

Tatum's run-oriented offense is also pretty good as the Eagles have averaged just under 34 points a game. Lennon Creer ran for 201 yards and a touchdown against Canton and has 1,760 yards for the season, with 15 TDs.

The quarterback, sophomore Cashas Pollard, completed 7 of 11 passes for 125 yards and three scores last week and ran for a fourth touchdown. His favorite targets this year have been Darnius Moore and Chance Blackmon, who each had a TD catch against Canton along with McCoy.

McCoy is the team's No. 2 rusher this season with 416 yards. Pollard has rushed for 378 yards and Bryce Beall has 338.


Copyright © 2005 Sweetwater Reporter

[Sweetwater Red]

Is Houston really a Div. I university. I mean technically yes but,
come on they are as competitive as SMU. You can take that same
story and plug in FS Pittman with 3 int's and LB Adames with 1
for last weeks game against Monahans. The bottom line is...
Sweetwater wins by a similar 35-16. We have our Div. 1 prospects
also.

[TatumEagle '99]

I am from Tatum and I have watched this team play twice this year. All I can say is this Tatum defense is sick. I graduated in '99 and we had some great teams at that time, widely considered one of the top 5 teams in 3a in the state tear in and year out when John Crawford was there. Anyway, the reason I say that stuff is that this defense is better than any of those defenses we had. They have the speed to stretch any and all plays out to the sideline. When I say speed I mean from the D-line to the secondary. McCoy fills the whole as good as anyone I have seen. He can beat your runner to the sideline but can stuff you between the tackles as well. I know nothing about your team or your offense in what they run so I can't say how they will play you. If you pass the ball I will say also that these two DB's they have can lock down on any receiver you have. They play solid man-to-man D and they can catch up if they get beat deep.

Their offense, pretty much going to run you to death. As does any East Texas team they will try and force their will onto you and run it until you can stop it. That has been a Tatum staple minus the past few years when we had an exceptional QB (Stephen Hodge who is at TCU as a safety) so we ran a spread offense.

All this smack talk between some of these idiots who claim they are from Tatum, first of all if they are they are probably high schoolers so excuse some of them because they don't know any better yet.

I noticed another thread on here talking about talent in Tatum and "how we do it". Well let me say this, Tatum is situated in between 4 bigger cities. There is a 20 mile difference to all those schools, so what I am saying is that we have been accused many times of recruiting players. That is the farthest from the truth and basically what happens is that half of those kids have to come to Tatum because they fall inside our school district. Also, you have to remember that Tatum is a very small stown (only 1100 people inside the city limits) Basically what I see happens is that all these kids (and it was the same when I was there) parents grow up in Tatum and never leave, well Tatum has always had a good athletic talent pool. Well those people had kids, their brothers and sisters had kids, so the gene pool has been there and now these kids basically "re-load". THat's my explanation of why Tatum has always had good athletes. I am from Tatum born and raised and I am amazed at how every single year more kids come through and the talent really never drops off. If it does it's only for a few years and then it starts all over again.

I hope this post was somewhat informative to some of you who have never heard of or seen Tatum. It's a small town in deep East Texas but we can hold on our own against anyone in the state. Good Luck on Saturday.

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Is Houston really a Div. I university. I mean technically yes but,
come on they are as competitive as SMU. You can take that same
story and plug in FS Pittman with 3 int's and LB Adames with 1
for last weeks game against Monahans. The bottom line is...
Sweetwater wins by a similar 35-16. We have our Div. 1 prospects
also.

i can name at least 3 prospects that i would imagine have the potential to go Div. 1......either way....tatum's d will have more time to talk about those signatures when they are sitting home next week.......lol....hopefully i don't eat these words!!

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
I am from Tatum and I have watched this team play twice this year. All I can say is this Tatum defense is sick. I graduated in '99 and we had some great teams at that time, widely considered one of the top 5 teams in 3a in the state tear in and year out when John Crawford was there. Anyway, the reason I say that stuff is that this defense is better than any of those defenses we had. They have the speed to stretch any and all plays out to the sideline. When I say speed I mean from the D-line to the secondary. McCoy fills the whole as good as anyone I have seen. He can beat your runner to the sideline but can stuff you between the tackles as well. I know nothing about your team or your offense in what they run so I can't say how they will play you. If you pass the ball I will say also that these two DB's they have can lock down on any receiver you have. They play solid man-to-man D and they can catch up if they get beat deep.

Their offense, pretty much going to run you to death. As does any East Texas team they will try and force their will onto you and run it until you can stop it. That has been a Tatum staple minus the past few years when we had an exceptional QB (Stephen Hodge who is at TCU as a safety) so we ran a spread offense.

All this smack talk between some of these idiots who claim they are from Tatum, first of all if they are they are probably high schoolers so excuse some of them because they don't know any better yet.

I noticed another thread on here talking about talent in Tatum and "how we do it". Well let me say this, Tatum is situated in between 4 bigger cities. There is a 20 mile difference to all those schools, so what I am saying is that we have been accused many times of recruiting players. That is the farthest from the truth and basically what happens is that half of those kids have to come to Tatum because they fall inside our school district. Also, you have to remember that Tatum is a very small stown (only 1100 people inside the city limits) Basically what I see happens is that all these kids (and it was the same when I was there) parents grow up in Tatum and never leave, well Tatum has always had a good athletic talent pool. Well those people had kids, their brothers and sisters had kids, so the gene pool has been there and now these kids basically "re-load". THat's my explanation of why Tatum has always had good athletes. I am from Tatum born and raised and I am amazed at how every single year more kids come through and the talent really never drops off. If it does it's only for a few years and then it starts all over again.

I hope this post was somewhat informative to some of you who have never heard of or seen Tatum. It's a small town in deep East Texas but we can hold on our own against anyone in the state. Good Luck on Saturday.

think they will go 2A next year with numbers that small??? they would be a powerhouse for sure if they did!!

[TatumEagle '99]

It has been rumored since before I was there that Tatum would fall back to 2A. Tatum used to be 2A up until 1990. Then we went to 3A and it seems every year they keep upping that number for 3A and well we have been close for quite a few years not just recently. 2A ball has been a real chance of happening for many years to come. I wouldn't doubt it one bit if they fall back to 2A next year, but for some reason Tatum keeps staying in 3A.

[Sweetwater Red]

Over commiting to the outside opens up the middle. Over commiting
to the middle opens up the outside. It will be ya'lls choice. #3 and
#22 averaging 15 yds. per carry on the outside or #36 averaging
10 yds. up the middle. Pick your poison.

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Over commiting to the outside opens up the middle. Over commiting
to the middle opens up the outside. It will be ya'lls choice. #3 and
#22 averaging 15 yds. per carry on the outside or #36 averaging
10 yds. up the middle. Pick your poison.

thats a back that doesn't get recognition for squat....AUSTON DAVIS!!!!!! #36...... a SOPHMORE fullback pushing juniors and seniors out of his way.........that kid is amazing....look forward to his senior year!!

[TatumEagle '99]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
It has been rumored since before I was there that Tatum would fall back to 2A. Tatum used to be 2A up until 1990. Then we went to 3A and it seems every year they keep upping that number for 3A and well we have been close for quite a few years not just recently. 2A ball has been a real chance of happening for many years to come. I wouldn't doubt it one bit if they fall back to 2A next year, but for some reason Tatum keeps staying in 3A.

Right, basic principles of defense and football. I will offer this to you as well. While Tatum may be fast they also have two guys on the D-line that are hoss's up front as noted in that article above. McCoy is the Middle backer so its his option to fill the hole or run down the play on the outside. If you guys run outside I Have seen this defense have the ability to catch you while still holding the line inside with Thompson and Leatch the DE. They are big guys that very few teams in 3A have size to move. A lot of football is technique and you can win with technique on the o-line, but you also can't be too small. Anyway, Tatum can hold their own inside with their d-lineman. Also, to stop outside runs you have to have ball-hawking corners and secondary. Tatum does, these guys will come up and hit you in the mouth which means they turn the runner back inside to the pursuit.

I have no doubt you guys have a heck of a RB or two, but its about match-ups and Tatum I wil venture to say will be the first team you guys have faced all year that can stuff the run inside with 6 people in the box because of size but can also get to the corner to meet your runners with the backers and corners coming up. Either way its all a chess match and it depends on the match-ups as much as anything.

[hubbardjack]

tatums D is good and their RB Creer impressed me last week against canton...I'm ready to see sweetwater play because i never have...sounds like its gonna be a good one...

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by sweetwater07
thats a back that doesn't get recognition for squat....AUSTON DAVIS!!!!!! #36...... a SOPHMORE fullback pushing juniors and seniors out of his way.........that kid is amazing....look forward to his senior year!!

I work with his step dad. I have met him in person. He will
probably start at DE next year if they don't move McCann there.
He is one helluva FB though. Just ask Monahans:) .

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
I work with his step dad. I have met him in person. He will
probably start at DE next year if they don't move McCann there.
He is one helluva FB though. Just ask Monahans:) .

talk to him everyday and as good as he is...he is very modest about it..doesn't an ego or big head at all

[Rabbit'93]

Tatumeagle99 thank you for bringing something to the table with your posts. very informative and plain good ol' football talk. :D

[sahen]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Is Houston really a Div. I university. I mean technically yes but,
come on they are as competitive as SMU. You can take that same
story and plug in FS Pittman with 3 int's and LB Adames with 1
for last weeks game against Monahans. The bottom line is...
Sweetwater wins by a similar 35-16. We have our Div. 1 prospects
also.

Houston is going to a bowl and SMU went 5-6....both teams are getting better...they were a lot more competitive this year than in years past....they are in Conference USA yes, but not everyone can play in a BCS conference...they r competitive among the midmajors...

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by sweetwater07
talk to him everyday and as good as he is...he is very modest about it..doesn't an ego or big head at all

That is called a good up-bringing my boy...seriuosly, he seems to be a good kid.

[gobbler93]

I think cuero and tatum would be the best 3a match this year. What do you think?

[Sweetwater Red]

What??? you wanna play a team you can smoke rather than face
your fears and play Sweetwater?

[TatumEagle '99]

Originally posted by gobbler93
I think cuero and tatum would be the best 3a match this year. What do you think?

I honestly don't know anything about Cuero except you guys have been good for about as long as we have. I remember hearing about you guys when I wasin High School. Other than that we have tog et past Sweetwater first before that can happen. :)

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
I honestly don't know anything about Cuero except you guys have been good for about as long as we have. I remember hearing about you guys when I wasin High School. Other than that we have tog et past Sweetwater first before that can happen. :)

And we all know that won't happen!!!

[gobbler93]

we will smoke sweetwater. I think tatum is the best match up

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by gobbler93
we will smoke sweetwater. I think tatum is the best match up

hope your head fits in whichever stadium yall decide to play in

[gobbler93]

when you know you have a good team. You can talk like that
GO MEAN GREEN

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by gobbler93
we will smoke sweetwater. I think tatum is the best match up

Yeah??? really??? we know we will win. Cuero hopes they can
win. That is why ya'lls kids will be at Academy pick'n out high
top's after this week-end. Sweetwater will be watching Hutto
game tapes.

[sweetwater07]

Originally posted by gobbler93
when you know you have a good team. You can talk like that
GO MEAN GREEN


WOW...your head is HUGE!!!.....we have a good team but none of us talk like that.....like i said earlier..hope your head fits in the stadium!!

[TatumEagle '99]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
Yeah??? really??? we know we will win. Cuero hopes they can
win. That is why ya'lls kids will be at Academy pick'n out high
top's after this week-end. Sweetwater will be watching Hutto
game tapes.

Not to be rude or anything, but neither of you guys play football and while this is an internet chat room and you have the right to say anything you want, I also have the right to let you know that you two sound like little 10 year olds bickering about who can run faster. Just my opinion but how about we let the teams on the field play it out Saturday and see who comes out on top. Either way when you get to this point of the season all four teams left are very good teams and any are deserving of winning a state championship. Just a thought.

[jmcgee]

I cant wait until Saturday. How can all you say one team is going to win definately neither know hardly anything about the other. there is no possible way any of us can predict the outcome much less guarantee a win.

[lostaussie]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
Not to be rude or anything, but neither of you guys play football and while this is an internet chat room and you have the right to say anything you want, I also have the right to let you know that you two sound like little 10 year olds bickering about who can run faster. Just my opinion but how about we let the teams on the field play it out Saturday and see who comes out on top. Either way when you get to this point of the season all four teams left are very good teams and any are deserving of winning a state championship. Just a thought. why is it that only the east txas people have sense. :D

[jmcgee]

Originally posted by lostaussie
why is it that only the east txas people have sense. :D There are people everywhere that have sense. I'm sure East texas has some people that dont have sense either.:D

[Sweetwater Red]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
Not to be rude or anything, but neither of you guys play football and while this is an internet chat room and you have the right to say anything you want, I also have the right to let you know that you two sound like little 10 year olds bickering about who can run faster. Just my opinion but how about we let the teams on the field play it out Saturday and see who comes out on top. Either way when you get to this point of the season all four teams left are very good teams and any are deserving of winning a state championship. Just a thought.

They WILL settle it on the field. This IS an internet chat room. I
played football from 85-89. That would make me 34 not 10.
I don't care what you think. Go to Smoaky.com with all the other
east Texas, retirement age folks and leave me and the kid alone.
We are just having fun at Tatum and Cuero's expense. Either
that or lighten' up.

[TatumEagle '99]

Originally posted by jmcgee
I cant wait until Saturday. How can all you say one team is going to win definately neither know hardly anything about the other. there is no possible way any of us can predict the outcome much less guarantee a win.

JMC I keep seeing that picture there of that football stadium, is that Sweetwater's stadium? If so, wow, that's a nice stadium for a 3A school.

Sweetwater Red, that's cool I can take that, you just sound like every other poster on any website. THIS IS NOT YOUR WEBSITE, you do not own this website and just because I come over here and give my opinion on something I don't need you or anyone else telling me to leave. IF it was your website then you could tell me to leave. I am lightened up, I could care less what people say on here, I just wanted to give my opinion on what some of you sound like on here just as you guys do to everyone else who says one bad thing about Sweetwater. Just so you know, that post was directed towards the Cuero guy and Sweetwater '07.

[jmcgee]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
JMC I keep seeing that picture there of that football stadium, is that Sweetwater's stadium? If so, wow, that's a nice stadium for a 3A school. Yeah. It could be a lot better though real easy. It holds about 14,000 or so with it filled. thats with people sitting on the concrete. If they fixed it up and put seats all the way around i thinkit could hold about 17,000 or more.

[TatumEagle '99]

That's an impressive stadium I must say. Tatum actually just got putting down the new Field Turf that is sweeping the country for football. It's a smaller stadium but fairly big for most 3A schools. The powers to be in the past spent a lot of money on facilities because Tatum is a pretty rich school district so we have really good facilities. Anyway, nice talking to you about it.

[jmcgee]

Same here.

[jmcgee]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
That's an impressive stadium I must say. Tatum actually just got putting down the new Field Turf that is sweeping the country for football. It's a smaller stadium but fairly big for most 3A schools. The powers to be in the past spent a lot of money on facilities because Tatum is a pretty rich school district so we have really good facilities. Anyway, nice talking to you about it. Only thing that sucks about it is they put it in after I graduated!

[TatumEagle '99]

Originally posted by jmcgee
Only thing that sucks about it is they put it in after I graduated!

I know that feeling, they built a brand new Basketball GYM, additions to the football stadium, and added onto the school after I left. Go figure.

[Tatum_Fan]

Originally posted by jmcgee
There are people everywhere that have sense. I'm sure East texas has some people that dont have sense either.:D

Yeah, lotsaussie picked Sweetwater to win...so there is one example on an East Texan not making sense:D

Joke, Aussie

[jmcgee]

Originally posted by Tatum_Fan
Yeah, lotsaussie picked Sweetwater to win...so there is one example on an East Texan not making sense:D

Joke, Aussie We got a funny guy huh. J/k:D

[S-WtrMustangFan]

Originally posted by sweetwater07
thats a back that doesn't get recognition for squat....AUSTON DAVIS!!!!!! #36...... a SOPHMORE fullback pushing juniors and seniors out of his way.........that kid is amazing....look forward to his senior year!! He proved himself last week thats for sure.

[Mustangpride09]

Originally posted by TatumEagle '99
I am from Tatum and I have watched this team play twice this year. All I can say is this Tatum defense is sick. I graduated in '99 and we had some great teams at that time, widely considered one of the top 5 teams in 3a in the state tear in and year out when John Crawford was there. Anyway, the reason I say that stuff is that this defense is better than any of those defenses we had. They have the speed to stretch any and all plays out to the sideline. When I say speed I mean from the D-line to the secondary. McCoy fills the whole as good as anyone I have seen. He can beat your runner to the sideline but can stuff you between the tackles as well. I know nothing about your team or your offense in what they run so I can't say how they will play you. If you pass the ball I will say also that these two DB's they have can lock down on any receiver you have. They play solid man-to-man D and they can catch up if they get beat deep.

Their offense, pretty much going to run you to death. As does any East Texas team they will try and force their will onto you and run it until you can stop it. That has been a Tatum staple minus the past few years when we had an exceptional QB (Stephen Hodge who is at TCU as a safety) so we ran a spread offense.

All this smack talk between some of these idiots who claim they are from Tatum, first of all if they are they are probably high schoolers so excuse some of them because they don't know any better yet.

I noticed another thread on here talking about talent in Tatum and "how we do it". Well let me say this, Tatum is situated in between 4 bigger cities. There is a 20 mile difference to all those schools, so what I am saying is that we have been accused many times of recruiting players. That is the farthest from the truth and basically what happens is that half of those kids have to come to Tatum because they fall inside our school district. Also, you have to remember that Tatum is a very small stown (only 1100 people inside the city limits) Basically what I see happens is that all these kids (and it was the same when I was there) parents grow up in Tatum and never leave, well Tatum has always had a good athletic talent pool. Well those people had kids, their brothers and sisters had kids, so the gene pool has been there and now these kids basically "re-load". THat's my explanation of why Tatum has always had good athletes. I am from Tatum born and raised and I am amazed at how every single year more kids come through and the talent really never drops off. If it does it's only for a few years and then it starts all over again.

I hope this post was somewhat informative to some of you who have never heard of or seen Tatum. It's a small town in deep East Texas but we can hold on our own against anyone in the state. Good Luck on Saturday.

Your opinion would be biased talking for tatum. As would mine talking for sweetwater. This thread needs a second opinion.